


Stand by Me

by honeyohtwo



Category: Devilman, Devilman: Crybaby
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Mild Fluff, Set in Episode 9, crybaby verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 06:09:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13288650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyohtwo/pseuds/honeyohtwo
Summary: It doesn’t matter if they’re running away from the life they’ve come to known, and it certainly doesn’t matter if they’re running away from the world they’ve come to live in. All that matters is this: Miki’s arms wrapped around her body like a lifeline and the way she whispers her name softly like a secret.





	Stand by Me

**Stand by Me**

* * *

Miki Kuroda has felt a lot of emotions in her lifetime. She had felt anger and resentment, sadness and melancholy, love and hatred. She’d felt emotions she couldn’t name and she’d certainly felt emotions she couldn’t recognize.

But out of all the things she’d felt, this is by far the best.

“Miko,” Miki begins, uttering her name softly in the silent night, wrapping her arms tighter around her to steady herself. Miko grunts softly in acknowledgment, silently waiting for her friend’s next words. There’s a moment’s pause coming from Miki, and for a moment, Miko is tempted to lift her head and look up at her, wondering what her dearest friend could be thinking about.

But Miki’s words arrive sooner than she has expected. There’s a sigh coming from her, soft and silent that Miko wouldn’t have heard it at all had she still been purely human, before she finally opens her mouth and begins to speak, the words falling softly out of her lips. “How long have we been running?” she asks.

Truth be told, Miko doesn’t know how long they’ve been running. They could have been doing this for a few minutes or for more than a few hours now, but all she knows is this: she couldn’t stop. Not now, not when she wants to make sure that Miki’s safe.

“I don’t know,” she says truthfully, pausing to catch her breath. She turns her head and chances a glance behind her, seeing that the streets are empty, devoid of people. She isn’t sure how far the two of them have gone, but judging from the emptiness of her surroundings, she could easily guess that the two of them have gotten far already.

She turns back and faces forward, briefly closing her eyes and breathing a sigh of relief. The people who have chased them earlier have finally disappeared from view, and as much as Miko would like to relax even just a little, she knows she couldn’t. Not when both of their lives are in danger—not when Miki’s in danger.

“We still have to keep running,” she continues after a moment, pausing briefly to catch her breath once more. “Your life could still be in danger as far as I know.”

“ _Our lives_ ,” Miki corrects, and even without looking at her, Miko could tell that there’s a small smile on the other girl’s lips. “You have to think about yourself, too, you know.”

“I’m a demon,” Miko replies with a nonchalant shrug, though she couldn’t help the smile tugging on the corners of her lips. “You know I can take care of myself better than you.”

Miki laughs at her words, and in this moment, it’s so easy to forget the things happening around them. In this moment, Miko could just close her eyes and pretend that there’s only the two of them in this world, running together because they want to, not running away because they have to.

“Miko?” her friend calls her name questioningly, and at the sound of her voice, Miko snaps to attention, the images in her mind quickly dissolving like smoke. She halts in her steps and stands straighter, quickly turning her head around to scan her surroundings.

The streets are still just as empty as before, and Miko slowly lifts her head up to glance at the other girl, giving her a questioning look as she opens her mouth and speaks. “What is it?” she asks, pausing once more to look at her surroundings, narrowing her eyes into a squint as she does so. She still couldn’t sense anything. “Did you see something?”

Miki shakes her head, the smile on her lips still present as she speaks. “No, silly,” she replies with a small giggle, and Miko smiles a little as she looks at her, awed at the innocence plastered on the other girl’s expression. “I just thought we should take a break even for a little while,” Miki continues after a moment, loosening her arms around Miko’s form.

“Why?” Miko asks, concern evident in the way she speaks her words. Quickly, she lifts her head up and looks at her friend, taking in the expression on her face. She still looks just as the same as before, though from this distance, she could notice the tiredness hiding behind her expression. “Are you feeling tired?”

Miki shakes her head at her in response before opening her mouth to voice her words out. “No, I don’t,” she says, and Miko watches as the other girl gives her smile, cheerful and happy like all those times before. Briefly, Miko could only wonder how the other girl could still act so normally after everything that’s already happened around them. “I just thought it would be good for you since you’ve been running for quite a while now.”

At her reply, Miko furrows her eyebrows her in concern, opening her mouth to protest, but before the words are even completely out of her lips, Miki opens her mouth and begins to speak, effectively stopping her from the words she’s about to say. “No buts,” she says, her smile widening into a grin. “It’d be good for you to rest every once in a while, too.”

Miko sighs at her words, though she nods all the same. Miki cheers just a little too loudly, loosening her arms around her form before jumping down her back. Together, the two of them find a nearby tree to rest on, exchanging stories from their pasts as they do so.

In this moment, Miko could easily forget the tragedy that’s happened around them. She could easily just close her eyes and pretend that everything is normal, that everything’s still just like before—when there’s still their happily ever after waiting for the two of them.

But the minutes pass and the silence grows somber between them, and all of a sudden, she remembers. She remembers the way her friend has lost her family, remembers the way her friend has lost all her friends, and remembers the reason why the two of them has been running nonstop.

And immediately, she finds herself standing once more, telling the other girl to quickly get on her back as she prepares herself to run once more. Miki complies without much protest, and together, the two of them begins to run once more, not having any clue as to where to go.

* * *

There is only nothing but silence surrounding her and Miko is nearly certain that the other girl has fallen asleep. Usually, Miki would make small talk, asking her about certain things every now and then just to fill the silence, but now she has grown completely quiet. Miko lifts her head up and chances a glance at her, finding her suspicions to be correct. She smiles softly to herself as she tears her gaze away from her, slowing her pace down to a walk as to not disturb the other girl.

She feels Miki’s arms tighten around her form, and all of a sudden, Miko could feel her heart fluttering in her chest, up, up and away until it’s finally no longer in her reach. She could feel her blood rushing in her ears, loud and deafening that she has to wonder whether or not it’s woken the other girl up.

“Miko,” she hears the other girl whisper, feeling her arms tighten around her body even more. Miko lifts her head up and looks at her, seeing the peaceful expression on her friend’s sleeping face, and briefly, she finds herself wondering what the other girl is dreaming about. There’s a moment of silence surrounding her before Miki’s soft whisper breaks it, and at her words, Miko immediately halts in her step, finding herself just a little too surprised at the words she’s heard.

“I love you,” Miki says, whispering the words just as softly as before. For a moment, all Miko could do is stare at her, her eyes still wide with shock as she tries to process the other girl’s words in her head. And then before she knows it, the corners of her lips are already tugging up into a small smile, the expression on her face softening into something akin to gentleness.

“I love you, too, Miki,” she whispers, the smile still present on her lips as she speaks. She lifts her head up and takes one last look at the girl sleeping above her before her expression finally hardens into one of determination and beginning to break out into a run once more, feeling her feet moving even more quickly than before.

It doesn’t matter if they’re running away from the life they’ve come to known, and it certainly doesn’t matter if they’re running away from the world they’ve come to live in. All that matters is this: Miki’s arms wrapped around her body like a lifeline and the way she whispers her name softly like a secret.

* * *

 


End file.
